Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

Population Growth Puts Dent In Natural Resources

Date:

October 10, 2008

Source:

Washington University in St. Louis

Summary:

It's a 500-pound gorilla that Robert Criss, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, sees standing on the speaker's dais at political rallies, debates and campaigns. Its name is population growth. "Population growth is driving all of our resource problems, including water and energy. The three are intertwined," Criss says.

It's a 500-pound gorilla that Robert Criss, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, sees standing on the speaker's dais at political rallies, debates and campaigns. Its name is population growth.

Related Articles

"Population growth is driving all of our resource problems, including water and energy. The three are intertwined," Criss says. "The United States has over 305 million people of the 6.7 billion on the planet. We are dividing a finite resource pie among a growing number of people on Earth. We cannot expect to sustain exponential population growth matched by increased per capita use of water and energy. It's troubling. But politicians and religious leaders totally ignore the topic."

Criss specializes in hydrogeology, the geology of water and systems of water. Much of his work has an environmental slant. He investigates the transport of aqueous fluids in environments such as rivers, cool potable groundwater systems essential to civilization, and deeper, hotter hydrothermal systems. The results may be combined with physical, chemical or geologic data to infer numerous aspects about the origin of waters and the processes that subsequently affect them.

A major focus for Criss and his associates is the origin, character and behavior of river and floodwaters in the Mississippi, Missouri and Meramec River basins. Since 1990, the mid-continent experienced floods of such severity that they would not, under normal circumstances, be expected to have all occurred in a period of less than several centuries. Criss and a colleague have proven that engineering modifications of waterways have increased the frequency and severity of floods on most Midwestern rivers.

For decades, he has taught a popular non-major course for undergraduates, Human Use of the Earth.

The United States is experiencing rapid population growth — at a rate higher than almost any other developed country — along with increased food production, Criss says. In many areas, especially the West, the practice of "mining" ground water to irrigate arid or semiarid land, which won't work in the long run, is becoming commonplace. "Energy and water use are intimately related," he says. "As water tables decline, you have to use more energy to lift the water out of the ground. That's what a pump has to do in places like Arizona where water levels have dropped many hundreds of feet. More people, more water use, more food, more energy. It's not sustainable."

Criss says approximately 150 million Americans use ground water, most of which is nonrenewable. When a well cannot pass drinking water standards, it is shut down and another one is drilled. Ground water extraction leads to dropping water levels in many places, and subsidence (saltwater intrusion) in others. The latter is the case in some of Florida's coastal cities, where salt water mixed with ground water has made drinking water unpalatable.

"Ground water, fossil fuel resources, cropland and forests are all being depleted or degraded," he says. "Thoughtful arguments can be made that for a sustainable world, we already have too many people, far more than can live by decent standards."

He says that, worldwide, the rates of increases of water and energy use have risen faster than population growth for the past 50 years. The fertility rate has actually lowered in much of the world, but the United States rate of 2.1 children for every woman of child-bearing age between 15 and 49, is now not much below the world's average, which is 2.6.

Despite what might appear as progress, Criss is disappointed that the United States has not contributed to the United Nations Population Fund for the past seven years. The Population Fund, begun in 1969, enables people in participating countries to learn about population growth and reproductive health.

"These U.N. projects have made great progress without any help from the United States." Criss says. "Many countries are seeing reduced growth rates. Africa still has a bad problem, but things are not as bleak as seven years ago. There are many medical, logistical and environmental reasons that these efforts should be supported. It's a considerable embarrassment to me that my country isn't chipping in."

Criss says there is a dearth of thoughtful dialogue on mankind's pressing problems in the political arena. The politicians, he thinks, see the 500-pound gorilla but ignore it.

"Having children when you're too young, too old, or having too many children, is not good for the world," he says. "Some of the candidates seem to have world views incompatible with the realities of the world. It's obvious there are too few resources to go around now. The notion that we can just continue to grow and grow and grow is not realistic."

Criss says real change can come if the country can grasp the great risks involved with our present approach.

"There's an old saw that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result," he says. "Oddly enough, that is our current energy policy, and it's not a winner."

Washington University in St. Louis. (2008, October 10). Population Growth Puts Dent In Natural Resources. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 3, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081008091127.htm

More From ScienceDaily

More Science & Society News

Featured Research

Mar. 3, 2015 — No significant change in home habits of smokers have been observed in the aftermath of a ban on smoking in public spaces, researchers report. Greater inspiration to kick the habit likely comes from ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Why do people shake hands? A new study suggests one of the reasons for this ancient custom may be to check out each other's odors. Even if we are not consciously aware of this, handshaking may ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — It appears that stress markers in unemployed people can be found, independent of smoking, alcohol consumption and overweight/obesity. Results from a study suggest that long-term unemployment may be ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — On the heels of an American nationwide measles outbreak comes a report that campaigns aimed at scaring people about the consequences of non-vaccination might not be as effective as many think. ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — Despite sharp increases in spending on cancer treatment, cancer mortality rates in the United States have decreased only modestly since 1970, a study has found. "Our results suggest that cancer care ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — In the first study of its kind since the 1920s, rats in New York City were found to carry a flea species capable of transmitting plague pathogens. Among them: 500-plus Oriental rat fleas, notorious ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — The odds of picking a perfect bracket for the NCAA men's basketball March Madness championship tournament are a staggering less than one in 9.2 quintillion (that's 9,223,372,036,854,775,808), ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — A survey of US high school students suggests that 1 in 5 female students and 1 in 10 male students who date have experienced some form of teen dating violence (TDV) during the past 12 months. "These ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — One of the first American national studies to examine risk factors for use of synthetic marijuana among a large, nationally representative sample of teens. Popular among teens, in 2011, synthetic ... full story

Mar. 2, 2015 — Pediatricians are facing increasing pressure from some parents who want to spread out the recommended vaccine schedule for their children by postponing vaccines, pointing to a need for improved ... full story

Featured Videos

Woman Convicted of Poisoning Son

AP (Mar. 3, 2015) — A woman who blogged for years about her son&apos;s constant health woes was convicted Monday of poisoning him to death by force-feeding heavy concentrations of sodium through his stomach tube. (March 3)
Video provided by AP

Nurse Who Survived Ebola Virus to File Lawsuit

AP (Mar. 2, 2015) — A lawyer for Nina Pham, the 26-year old nurse who survived after contracted the Ebola virus, says the young woman&apos;s &apos;life has changed forever. &apos; Pham is preparing to file a lawsuit against Texas Health Resources for negligence. (March 2)
Video provided by AP

Related Stories

Mar. 2, 2015 — Screening for five growth parameters helped detect celiac disease (CD) with good accuracy in both boys and girls because growth falters in most children with CD, according to a new article. CD is an ... full story

Sep. 18, 2014 — Research that monitors the volume of water in the Nile River Basin will help to level the playing field for more than 200 million northeast Africans who rely on the river's water supply. ... full story

Oct. 24, 2013 — A professor of earth and atmospheric sciences outlines his optimism about the world's prospects for sustaining the human population in an environmentally responsible way in a new ... full story

Nov. 27, 2012 — Social and physical scientists have long been concerned about the effects of humans on Earth's surface -- in part through deforestation, encroachment of urban areas onto traditionally ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.